Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Brown Professor Huajian Gao Receives Humboldt Research Award

Huajian Gao, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Engineering at Brown University, has received a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. Award winners are invited to spend a period of up to one year cooperating on a long-term research project with specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany. Professor Dr. Joachim P. Spatz nominated Professor Gao and is hosting him during his research in the Department of Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Heidelberg.

The award is granted in recognition of a researcher's entire achievements to date to academics whose fundamental discoveries, new theories, or insights have had a significant impact on their own discipline and who are expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements in the future.

“This is a great award for Professor Gao,” said Dean Larry Larson. “He is one of the leading researchers and professors in his field, and that continues to be recognized on both a national and international level. We
are fortunate to have him at Brown.”

Professor Gao received his B.S. degree from Xian Jiaotong University of China
in 1982, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering science from Harvard
University in 1984 and 1988, respectively. He served on the faculty of Stanford
University between 1988 and 2002, where he was promoted to associate professor
with tenure in 1994 and to full professor in 2000. He was appointed as Director
and Professor at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart,
Germany between 2001 and 2006. He joined Brown University in 2006. Professor
Gao has a background in applied mechanics and engineering science. He has more
than 25 years of research experience and more than 300 publications to his
credit. In February of 2012, he was elected to the National Academy of
Engineering (NAE).

Professor Gao’s research group is generally interested in understanding the
basic principles that control mechanical properties and behaviors of both
engineering and biological systems. His current research includes studies of
how metallic and semiconductor materials behave in thin film and nanocrystalline
forms, and how biological materials such as bones, geckos, and cells achieve
their mechanical robustness through structural hierarchy.